A place for John to rant and rave about his passions: music, movies, literature, soccer, his strange attempts at writing (songs, poems, short stories, and now even books), and general mayhem.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Filking About Figwit

It is amazing how little we know about what we don't know. Today, for example, I discovered two new things:First, I knew that Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords fame) played a small role in the Lord of the Rings film(s). I have not watched the films since I learned this, though, so I have not actually spotted him in them. Today I discovered that he is actually in both Fellowship of the Ring (FotR) and Return of the King (RotK). In FotR he sits next to Aragorn in the Rivendell council scene and speaks no lines. Some female fan of the films (that almost sounds like a band name... Female Fan of the Films... hmm...) saw him and thought he was attractive. She started a fansite about him, naming him Figwit (he had no name in the film, nor does his character exist in the books). The name is an acronym, and it stands for "Frodo is grea...who is that?!!?" which is apparently what she said at that moment, watching the films. Anyway, long story short, her fansite got attention and Figwit became a sort of cult star in the LOTR fanworld. For this reason, Peter Jackson brought Bret back to reprise his role as Figwit in RotK. Jackson gave him speaking lines and even a spot in the film's credits as "Elven Escort." Anyway, if you are interested in learning more or are as bored at work as I am, go check out the Wikipedia entry on Figwit. It is amusing. One last tidbit is that Bret's wife filmed a documentary on Figwit and his "fame." I really want to watch it now.

Second, I learned of a new music genre today, while reading the Wikipedia entry on Figwit. It is called "filk." The basic summary of it is that is is science fiction/fantasy themed folky music. I don't know if I should be ecstatic or scared of this. It sounds really funny at first glance, but then I started reading the Wiki page on it and saw that people get into large "filking" circles at Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions, sitting around and making this music together. Some things maybe are better just to be kept as ideas and not to be carried out methinks.

UPDATED: I just found out that Bret McKenzie's father Peter is also in the films. He plays Elendil (you can see him in the intro to FotR, battling against old Sauron-pants).Here is a little article for you to enjoy.